Edward S. Johansen

Name:                   Edward Sherman Johansen

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Birth:                      29 Mar 1929          Fresno, Fresno County, California

Occupation:            Aircraft Mechanic for US Air Force, Reserves, and Civil Service

Education:              King City High School Graduate and One year at Hartnell Jr. College

Father:                    Edward Sigfried Johansen (1869-1929)

Mother:                  Fannette (Nettie) Startzer (1884-1952)

Siblings:                  Meta, Lester, Evelyn, Jessie, Louis, Frieda, Elmer

Edward S. Johansen was born in Fresno, California on Mar 29, 1929, the eighth and last child of Edward and Nettie (Startzer) Johansen.  Ed’s father died of prostate cancer on 25 May 1929.  After his father’s death, Ed’s mother and her youngest children settled in King City California.  Ed was raised by his mother and oldest brother Les.  They lived in a house at the Orchard Company where Les worked.

Ed started school in the first grade and went on through high school in King City.   

While in high school, Ed played clarinet in the band and orchestra.  He also participated in basketball and track.  He was the center on the basketball team and ran the high hurdles on the track team.  After graduation from high school, Ed went to Salinas (Hartnell) Jr. College for a year.  At Hartnell, he again played clarinet in the band and orchestra and ran the high hurdles on the track team.

After one year in college, Ed joined the Air Force.  In 1948, Ed did basic training at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas.  In January 1949, Ed was sent to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS, for aircraft mechanic school.  After graduating mechanic school in October 1949, Ed received orders to report to San Francisco for overseas deployment.  Ed was stationed at Yokota AFB in Japan when the Korean War broke out.  

After finishing his enlistment at the end of 1952, Ed went to the Northrop Aeronautical Institute in Inglewood, California.  He received his airframe and powerplant license from the Civil Aeronautical Administration in 1954, and in 1955, joined the Air Force Civil Service and Reserves.  Ed worked for the Air Force Civil Service for 33 years.  During this time, he was stationed at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California and Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento, California.  While working for the Air Force, Ed worked on the following aircraft: B-26, C-46, C-47, C-119, C-124, C-130, KC-135. Ed retired as a Chief Master Sargent.

Ed married Ruby Barclay on July 15, 1956 and had two children: Paul born in 1958, and Valerie born in 1960.  Paul met Katey Yust in college and married her in 1983, and Valerie met Wayne Oliver at a friend’s wedding and married him in 1982. Val and Wayne have one daughter, Lynsey, born in Hawaii in 1985.

While Ed was still working, he and Ruby bought their first motorhome, and put 97,000 miles on it.  In 1992, when the kids had left the house for their own families, Ed and Ruby bought a new motorhome and sold the house in Roseville, California and travelled in their motorhome full time. They made numerous trips around the US and Canada before slowing down.

After slowing down, in 2011, Ed and Ruby sold their motorhome and purchased a home in Bernalillo, to be close to their daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.

Ed was active in the Bernalillo United Methodist Church.  Ed and Ruby were married for nearly 62 years.  Ed will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather, and a friend to many.

Donations to the Bernalillo United Methodist Church or your charity